It takes a moment before you realize you don't recognize the face in the mirror, and not merely because it doesn't look like your normal face. Almost as though you were looking at your reflection in a rippling pond rather than a mirror, the reflection seems to distort and change, almost fluidly. Not just your face, your entire body feels strange, like you were a rubber band being pulled and contracted over and over.
However, what truly horrified you was that your body's appearance was not only changing, it was almost as though it was mutating. As your left foot grew longer, the toes came together and darkened, becoming a hoof. At the same time, your right arm suddenly gave way as it turned into a sinuous tentacle. Even your face was not spared, as your eyes without warning began moving independently of each other, causing your field of vision to change drastically. For a half a minute, you writhe on the floor struggling to breathe while your nose closes off and gill slits erupt from the sides of your neck.
As quickly as the changes occur, after a few seconds, different alterations would take their place. While at first the changes come rapid-fire, through your exhaustion you feel as though there is more time transpiring between each transformation, allowing you to catch your breath a bit. Finally, the changes slow to the rate of one change every five minutes or so, and during a break you manage to drag your utterly unrecognizable body into a seating position on your bed, just as two additional arms sprout out from your torso. By this point, of course, you are completely naked, your pajamas having been torn to shreds by your ever-changing body.
You hug yourself desperately with one pair of armsand raise the other pair of hands to your face as your emotions finally give way.
"What on earth is happening to me?" you wail, not expecting an answer as you live alone.
"You are no longer human," a voice responds out of nowhere. Your ears, which at the moment are rather long and furry, prick up at the noise, and you turn towards the oddly-familiar tone. To your surprise, floating on the other side of your bedroom is Japhiel, the angel partly responsible for this mess.
"What do you mean?" you respond numbly, unable to process Japhiel's response.
"Your body now contains energy from both heaven and hell, energy no human body was meant to contain. Those with heavenly energy usually ascend, and those with hellish energy usually become demons, but you absorbed both when you were struck by my sword and that demon's trident," Japhiel explained rather matter-of-factly, as though reading a textbook. "We angels and demons are not permitted to take mortal action against humans, but we could not let you ascend or descend because hellish energy cannot enter heaven, and heavenly energy must not be allowed to enter hell. Therefore, your body required alterations in its fundamental nature to be able to contain the energy."
"Alterations?!" you yell, or try to, as your mouth suddenly juts out and hardens, becoming a beak. "You turned me into a freak!"
"While it is true you can no longer be the person you were," Japhiel continued, "as your body adjusts, it will stabilize, and you will change less often. You may even obtain some degree of control over the nature of the changes."
"You mean you can't just change me back?" you ask, terrified.
"I cannot. However, while you can no longer be human, you may be able to move on eventually. If you strengthen the heavenly energy in your body enough to drive out the hellish energy, you may be able to ascend. Nevertheless, beware, should you allow the hellish energy in your body to take over, you will descend to the depths of hell as a demon." Japhiel paused. "It appears that my time in this realm is running out, fare well until we meet again."
"Wait!" you shout, but it is too late, Japhiel has disappeared and you are left alone with your newly-sprouted tail to ponder your fate.